HC Deb 13 July 1995 vol 263 cc764-5W
Mr. Milburn

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will estimate the cost of employing consultants in connection with privatisation programmes in which his Department has been engaged since 1980. [33455]

Sir John Wheeler

The information requested is not available prior to 1989. However, from April 1989 to March 1995, the cost of employing consultants in connection with privatisation programmes in the Northern Ireland Office and Northern Ireland departments was £14.8 million.

Mr. Austin Mitchell

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many contracts and for what total sum were let out by his Department and agencies for which it is responsible to(a) Coopers and Lybrand and its subsidiaries, (b) Peat Marwick and its subsidiaries, (c) Ernest and Young and its subsidiaries, (d) Arthur Andersen and its subsidiaries, (e) Price Waterhouse and its subsidiaries, (f) Grant Thornton and its subsidiaries, (g) Stoy Hayward and its subsidiaries, (h) Robson Rhodes and its subsidiaries and (i) Pannell Kerr Forster and its subsidiaries for privatisation, market testing, management advice, accounting, audit, consultancy and other services in 1993–94 and 1994–95. [33906]

Sir John Wheeler

Details are set out in the following table, for the various categories for which information is collected.

Number of contracts per firm (including subsidiaries) per category
1993–94 General management consultancy Information technology Privatisation (includes market testing) Next steps (includes prior option studies)
Coopers and Lybrand 39 2 4 0
KPMG Peat Marwick 14 0 0 1
Ernest and Young Arthur Andersen 20 0 0 0
Price Waterhouse 22 1 3 1
Grant Thornton 0 0 0 0
Stoy Hayward 22 0 0 0
Robson Rhodes 0 0 0 0
Pannell Kerr Forster 0 0 0 0
Total 117 3 7 2
Total amount of spend by 9 listed Consultancy groups £1,869,528.
Number of contracts per firm (including subsidiaries) per category
1994–95 General Management Consultancy Information technology Privatisation (including market testing) Next steps (including prior option studies)
Coopers and Lybrand 42 0 1 3
KPMG Peat Marwick 8 1 1 0
Ernest and Young 15 0 0 1
Arthur Andersen 0 0 0 0
Price Waterhouse 25 0 0 1
Grant Thornton 0 0 0 0
Stoy Hayward 12 0 0 2
Robson Rhodes 0 0 0 0
Pannell Kerr Forster 0 0 0 0
Total 102 1 2 7
Total amount of spend by nine listed Consultancy groups £1,282,700.

Mr. Milburn

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much have(a) health authorities and (b) trusts spent on consultancy services in each year since 1992, by region. [34162]

Mr. Moss

The information is not available in the exact form requested. Health and social services boards and trusts produce statements in support of their annual accounts which provide supplementary analysis of the expenditure on the accounts. The table sets out the cost of external contract staff and consultancy services.

1992–93 £ 1993–94 £
Northern Board 196,618 162,575
Southern Board 316,161 362,501
Eastern Board 520,942 252,161
Western Board 190,988 158,781
Trusts in Eastern Board Area n/a 320,435
Trusts in Southern Board Area n/a 125,917
Total 1,224,709 1,382,370

The first Trusts were established in Northern Ireland on 1 April 1993. Five are in the Eastern board area and one is in the Southern Board area.